Rik Roncken
BT
Global Head

What's my job...

Hi Rik. Tell us about yourself and BT Onevoice

I am the global head of the BT Onevoice product team.

0nevoice basically provides the infrastructure that supports traditional TDM telephony and Voice over IP - it's a flexible environment in which both traditional and new-wave voice are linked together within one service.

When we began with Onevoice, it was in response to our customers wish to migrate to newer voice technology. IP Telephony was fairly new when we started - of course it's not that new any more. Things move fast in the world of ICT and we have to keep up. We are constantly evolving and looking into providing new services.

I am the head of the product team - a team that is dispersed across a number of countries.. We have offices around the globe, ranging from most European countries to AsiaPac and the Americas. It's my job to maintain revenue and to ensure that our products develop in the right direction, always responding to market requirements. This is a multi-million dollar business and the responsibility is great.

Have you worked in this environment for a long time? How did you get into Voice?

Well, I've been in this job for about five months, but I've worked in Voice marketing for BT for over six years. A lot of people in the Voice industry come from different backgrounds. I majored in English at university, although I also studied IT. I was recruited by Philips when I graduated and that's how I got into technology. Nowadays people seem more focused on where they want to go earlier in their careers or studies. PCs, the Internet and mobile phones are becoming house-hold appliances and with greater access to information, perceptions have changed. I would say that today's generation has a far better understanding of technology at an earlier age.

So you could say that today's networking engineers have IT made? Today's network engineers - what is their advantage?

I'd say that consumer and user knowledge will help today's generation to understand my kind of business, yes.

What advice would you give NetAcad Advantage users who would like to get into Voice?

Advice for young engineers

This is not a steady industry. The world is constantly changing and moving from both an IT and a structural perspective. Young people entering today's market need to brace themselves for changes - don't be afraid of change. Globalisation has also meant that the working day never stops. So young people should be prepared to work long hours. It's a tough world - be aware of that! I'd also advise your users to be prepared to build their own careers. Be prepared to use you own initiative and to be versatile. Demonstrate what you can do to your employers and don't be afraid to 'sell yourself' a bit. Working in technology is not the same as working in a more traditional profession. The career 'road map' does not exist in our business, so you need to be adaptable and you need to take responsibility for your own success.

BT bosses look for certain qualities in new recruits. What are they? What do you need to know?

Well, I'm impressed by people who have something more than just technical skills. The kinds of recruits that are successful are those who also have 'interpersonal skills'. In other words, they can communicate - explain things to people over the phone. Organisational skills are also good to have. Be structured and well organised in your work. Creativity and ideas are always appreciated, wherever you work! My advice to young people is to get experience. Graduate programmes and internships are a great way of acquiring different skills and knowledge prior to getting jobs.

What is the future for Voice? Where is the Voice industry going in the future?

I think we're moving towards a greater mix of IT and telecommunications: telephony, broadband, TV all embedded within each other. Increasingly we will see cable service providers offering telephone. There is also an increasing trend in the IT business of consumer behaviour being incorporated into the businesses environment: blogs, wikis, instant messenger and other methods of social networking are now making it into the workplace. So the borders between consumer and business markets are starting to blur and that has interesting ramifications for our industry. We will have to wait and see what happens here.

Million dollar question Rik. If you hadn't ended up Global Head of BT One Voice, what would you have done?

I really admire people with a sense of vocation - those individuals who have their career 'mapped out' and who know where they want to go. Well, that's not really me!
I suppose there is a bit of teacher in me. My English studies might have led me to the classroom or the lecture theatre
Although, gold mining also has its appeal!

Rik Roncken was talking to Aine Doris.

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